TOKYO -- Hitachi and Canadian partner Bombardier will build and maintain high-speed trains for Italian rail operator Trenitalia under a deal valued at a combined 575 million euros ($647 million).
The contract, which Hitachi unveiled Wednesday, is the first high-speed train manufacture order in Italy for the Japanese industrial conglomerate, which acquired local rolling stock builder AnsaldoBreda in 2015.
Italian subsidiary Hitachi Rail, which took over AnsaldoBreda's operations, and Bombardier Transportation, which is the Berlin-based division of the Canadian public transport equipment giant, will manufacture 14 Frecciarossa trains with a total of 112 cars at their Italian factories from 2020 to the end of 2021, and maintain them for 10 years.
Hitachi's share in the deal is roughly $385 million.
The high-speed rail cars will travel on a network connecting such cities as Milan and Rome, reaching the maximum commercial speed of 360 kph. The cars will feature Wi-Fi service, a meeting room and a buffet restaurant. The trains will also satisfy the Technical Specification for Interoperability requirements so that they can run on the trans-European, multi-voltage rail system.
Hitachi's past deals with Trenitalia were for high-speed rail maintenance and commuter train supply work in 2016. AnsaldoBreda has also supplied the railroad operator with high-speed rail cars.
Hitachi and Bombardier are expanding their tie-up in Europe, planning to bid to build cars for the U.K.'s HS2 high-speed rail project.
